Most of Africa, Asia and Oceania had been colonized by Europeans or Americans, at different levels of colonization. Some colonies, like India, were formed by autonomous native states that paid tribute to a European power, while in Africa, populations were subjugated to the will of their colonial masters, and places like Australia became settler colonies where the native population was displaced or regarded as non-existent. Only a handful of free states survived in Africa, Asia and Oceania.